


Für Elise

by TheTuckingFypo



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Classical Music, F/M, Fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 20:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10499073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTuckingFypo/pseuds/TheTuckingFypo
Summary: In which they each harbor secret feelings, and music hides none.





	

Boredom.  


Loneliness.  


The two words spun throughout Elise’s head. It had been a day since her and her siblings trekked across the desolate wasteland known as Nohr to the Northern Fortress. The fortress itself was practically isolated from the rest of Nohr, located amongst the kingdom’s border. Anyone in their right mind would skip out on this particular destination, but the siblings would frequent the place often for one, very important reason. Their sister; Corrin. She couldn’t figure out how Corrin had managed to live here full time. Unlike her sister, she hadn’t even been here for forty-eight hours and she was already bored beyond belief. What she could figure out, was that she took her own freedom for granted; Corrin couldn’t leave, and in turn probably learned how to manage, alone. She shuddered at the realization. No wonder why she and her siblings doted on her. Even though Xander and Camilla had royal duties to attend to, they still made sure to set aside some time with Corrin. Elise and her brother, Leo, had much more free time on their hands. However, even though she still played with her, it was clear to her that Corrin preferred Leo’s company much more. She could probably bet her life savings, that she had secretly earned from working at the flower shop, on Leo being “Corrin’s favorite.”  


That left her lost in thoughts all alone. She had no one here to save her from herself. Flora, Felicia, Jakob and Gunter were just as busy as Xander and Camilla, but instead of royal duties, it was maintaining the cleanliness of the fortress. Corrin and Leo were probably studying together in the library, as always. She knew better than to interrupt. Not even any retainers were present; they had all been sent on a mission and thus couldn’t help her occupy her time. Her mind then wandered to one retainer in particular; Odin. The wordy yet enigmatic retainer of her brother Leo. He too was on the mission with his fellow retainers, but in recent days when he was free, even he seemed like he was avoiding her.  


“Hmph. Some friend,” she pouted, holding back a few tears.  


That’s when she heard a familiar sound echo along the corridors. She perked up, and dashed towards the music room, with her violin in tow.  


Upon reaching the music room doors, it became evident to Elise that it wasn’t Corrin playing the piano. It couldn’t be; Corrin had yet to learn the song that was being played. Though the song itself wasn’t particularly hard to learn, it wasn’t a piano solo; it was a piano and violin duet. Elise allowed herself to listen in on the song before entering. Whoever was playing gave off an air of loneliness, a feeling Elise knew all too well. She wanted to comfort the person playing and tell them everything was okay, but most of all, she wanted to know who was playing behind those doors. She took a deep breath, and entered.  
The identity of the mysterious piano shocked her; it was Odin. She never knew that he played piano, or could play, for that matter. He was good, too. It seemed that he didn’t notice Elise had slipped into the room, either. She waited for him to loop over the song and prepared to play her portion.  
She could tell Odin was surprised; he jumped at the sound of her violin, hit a wrong key, and turned to face her. The room went silent.  


Blush was visible on the dark mage’s cheeks, “Lady Elise…”  


Elise too, stopped playing, “I thought you were on a mission.”  


“Alas, my comrades chose to abandon yours truly for a mission of darkness, under the guise that the chosen one was incapable of lurking in the shadows like thieves in the night.”  


“So… The others didn’t want you to go with them because the others thought that you would blow their cover?”  


“Exactly,” Odin admitted.  


“What a bunch of meanies!” Elise huffed, “I couldn’t imagine abandoning you like they did!”  


“Lady Elise, you are truly the light that shines against the dark abyss.”  


Elise’s cheeks reddened at the comment. In return, she attempted to imitate Odin’s theatrics, “The light of the dark abyss appreciates the sentiment that stems from the chosen one’s… vast vocabulary. Also, you can just call me Elise.”  


Odin’s eyes beamed, “Shall we continue to harmonize light and dark with this musical composition?”  


Elise smiled, “Of course!”  


And with that, they began to play the song that previously echoed throughout the fortress. Odin began, fingers elegantly sprawling among the keys. Elise followed, gracefully sliding the bow against the strings of her violin. About two-thirds of the way through the song, Elise noticed something; Odin was playing the song perfectly, without a score in sight. It was like the piece was made for him.  


“Odin, I couldn’t help but notice how well you played Unworthy Ideals, by Brady the first, Duke of Themis, the way you did. I’ve never seen anyone play perfectly, without a score. It was almost like playing with the composer, even though the composer was a violinist.”  


Odin froze. “Practice… Makes perfect?”  


Elise couldn’t help but notice him hesitate and the lack of theatrics in his speech. She questioned whether he was hiding something from her, but despite her curiosity, she knew better than to pry out his past, knowing how he became apprehensive every time she brought it up before.  


“Unworthy Ideals… Where I’m from it was named And what if I can’t? What if I’m not worthy of her ideals?” Odin said, turning back to the piano.  


“Okay, he’s definitely hiding something from me,” Elise thought. Odin was acting normal, and that was weird. It wasn’t like him to speak of his homeland. If she weren’t a fool, she’d have joked that maybe Odin knew that Brady of Themis guy. Maybe.  


Elise snapped back into reality to find Odin had at some point returned to playing the piano. This time, he had a score. However, she didn’t recognize the piece. She allowed herself to get lost in Odin’s melody once more, as he gracefully swept his fingers across the keys, the piano echoing the respective sound. Once again, his playing gave off a feeling of loneliness, even clearer than before. This loneliness differed from the last; whereas the first song portrayed more grief, this one portrayed longing and hopelessness. Suddenly, the music drastically changed, the notes now expressing feelings almost euphoric to Elise. To her despair, those blissful tones quickly dissipated and returned to its former gloom. Eventually, Odin began to pound harder on the keys, and his playing became more grim and frantic. The chromatic descent that followed effectively made the hair on Elise’s arms stand on edge, before returning to the somber tone once more. Odin slowed his timing as he hit the last notes on the score, allowing them to echo throughout, before silence took its place.  


Odin took a deep breath before he hesitantly turned around to face Elise. His eyes widened as he saw the stream of tears flowing down the young princess’ cheeks.  


“Lady Elise!” bellowed a panicked Odin, “What dark magic hath possessed thee?”  


Elise gave him a puzzled look in response.  


“You’re crying.” Odin rephrased, cupping one cheek to wipe her tears away. Blush formed on his cheeks.  


“Oh!” Elise said, giving him a weak smile, “I’m sorry! I didn’t even notice! I was just so entranced by your playing again! It was beautiful!”  


Odin reciprocated her smile, “I’m overjoyed to bear witness to milady’s praise.”  


“It’s Elise.”  


“My apologies... Elise,” Odin responded, evidently putting effort in to not add titles to her name.  


“Yup! That’s me!”  


Odin blushed, “… Elise. If you will grant permission to my dark inquiries, I would be honored to be versed in thy insight of this piece.”  


“So, you’d like to know what I think about the piece?”  


Odin nodded.  


“I think,” Elise started, taking a few moments to search for the right words, “-the piece was reflecting a swirl of emotions in the writer’s head, like circles going round and round… When the music changed, I felt the sheer bliss that the composer must have felt towards their lover. But, the other time it changed, I felt that the composer was lamenting in frustration. That’s when I realized that the composer’s love was unrequited. Overall, it was bittersweet.”  


Odin blushed, and turned his gaze away from Elise, “I see.”  


“Odin? What’s wrong?” Elise said when she saw the title listed on the score; Für Elise.  


Everything clicked. From his recent evasions, odd behavior and constant blush, the dark mage’s feelings came to light. The more Elise thought of it, the more dense she felt for not realizing sooner.  


Odin lowered his head and confessed, dropping his theatrics entirely, “I’m sorry, …Elise. It is wrong of me to like a princess like you…” He then turned away to leave.  


Before Odin could leave the room, Elise bolted past him and spread her arms out, blocking his only means of escape. Tears began to form in her eyes again.  


“…Elise… Please let me through,” Odin muttered.  


“No,” Elise pouted, “Not until you stop playing dumb.”  


Odin protested, “I don’t understand what you mea-.”  


Odin was cut off as Elise tackled him, pressing her lips upon his own. Though Odin initially fought back, he quickly gave in. Odin pulled Elise into his embrace as the kiss became more heated.  


Eventually, they broke the kiss to catch their breaths. Both parties had a deep red plastered to their faces and broke a sweat.  


“I don’t care if you feel if your love is unrequited, because you’re wrong,” Elise panted, “I like you too. You’re my best friend in the whole world! I love you!”  


“My devotion to you will never fade. Not even the brightest of lights and darkest of shadows could ever sever our invisible ties.”  


The two remained in each other’s embrace awhile afterwards, savoring every precious moment they had together; not just as friends, but something more. Elise, still cuddled up against her beloved, broke the silence, “Odin, who is Beethoven?”  


“The composer’s origins are a mystery to the chosen one,” Odin answered, “Uh…. But the red-head merchant I bought the score from said she got it in an outrealm.”  


Elise could’ve sworn that Odin’s eyes sparkled from her confession, as it made her feel on top of the world. She finally felt like she had a place where she belonged; in Odin’s arms.  


“Odin. Let me play a song for you.” Elise said, blushing, as she readied her violin.

**Author's Note:**

> Before I ramble on, I give thanks to Mitsuboo and ffxvwiki for beta'ing/proofreading! (Check out their stuff too! It's good stuff.)
> 
> So, this oneshot's concept came to be when I was in the local music store (I'm planning on learning violin). It was too good to pass up. 
> 
> Please tell me how I did. :D


End file.
